Why ‘Are We All Angels’ by Scowl is My 2025 Album of the Year.

There is a long list of punk bands accused of selling out. Green Day, The Offspring and My Chemical Romance are just three examples that come to mind. Often bands like the above mentioned are accused by diehard punk fanatics for changing their sound, typically, to achieve mainstream success. Even striking a commercial deal with a new record label or corporate sponsorship is frowned upon. More recently, cries of “poser! and “sellout!” were aimed at Scowl, the rising American punk rock band from Santa Cruz, California.

News of this latest punk rock discretion made itself known to me via a New York Times article I read last year entitled, ‘Scowl Made Hardcore Purists Angry. Now the Band Is Doubling Down.’ Two statements in particular stood out to me from the article. The first said, “Scowl isn’t shying away from the conflict. Instead, it’s members want to push the limits of their sound and what they feel hardcore music can be.” Hence, the doubling down by Scowl, which has every right creatively to do as they please, leaning into a “slower, heavier sound with grungy riffs and catchier choruses.”  The second statement which grabbed my attention talked about how Scowl’s new album Are We All Angels brought into play many of their influences beyond hardcore punk – particularly from female-fronted rock bands like L7 and the Muffs to Veruca Salt and Garbage. Anyone who knows me best would know both Veruca Salt and Garbage stand out as two of my favourite female-fronted bands of all time. So after reading this how could I not check out this new rising band called Scowl. 

Scowl was formed in 2019 by frontwoman Kat Moss, guitarist Malachi Greene, bassist Bailey Lupo and drummer Cole Gilbert. In 2023, guitarist Mikey Bifolco was recruited to add another layer to their punk rock creditenials. (One might claim Scowl was channeling a twin-guitar assault to their dynamic sound.) More recently founding member Malachi Greene left the band to pursue other projects, but his departure has by no means handicapped the band. Since debuting on their self-released, self titled EP, Scowl, the band has succeeded in racking up acclaim, fans and a reputation as an energetic live act. Which by the way is no small achievement, most especially for a band whose debut album was almost lost in pandemic hell.  

For the record on Scowl’s debut, How Flowers Grow, the temperature is high and the energy electric. It’s a crazed scorcher, short and sharp, ten tracks in fifteen blistering minutes! From the opening snatch of Bloodhound to the astonishing album closer, the title track no less, Kat Moss shreds her voice with the same aggression, distortion and raw energy delivered by her hardcore bandmates. 

This non-stop anger doesn’t wholly dissipate, I guess it never really does on a punk hardcore record. For Moss, the idea of screaming out her lungs (especially on stage) is quite therapeutic, a cathartic release. Then something changes significantly enough to piss off many hardcore fans. That something is Scowl’s latest album. This is where my introduction to Are We All Angels feels like one of 2025’s most accessible records. With its shift away from pure hardcore to melody-driven punk rock and pop punk, I’m in awe how Scowl is so unafraid to inject influences of ‘90s alternative rock, something that truly warms my heart. (Bands like Amyl and The Sniffers and Wet Leg also make me feel young again!)

While not completely devoid of blistering riffs you might associated with hardcore, there are plenty of great tracks like B.A.B.E. and Not Hell, Not Heaven that should still appeal to the hardcore faithful (sort of) on Are We All Angels. Moreover, what I really love about this new album is Moss’s voice. She moves effortlessly between a biting wail to actually singing. No really! The shock horror might be too much for the faithful but there is no denying Moss is a force of nature. Like Courtney Love, Moss embodies angst, feminism ideals and unapologetic self-expression through her music. 

While Moss usually leads the charge with songwriting, I read recently that her bandmates also brought new ideas to the table for this new album. Lyrically, there are a lot of things going on worthy of our attention. Themes of grief and abuse are laid bare with unflinching vulnerability. The aforementioned Not Hell, Not Heaven comes to mind where Moss challenges the idea of victimhood. Elsewhere, Moss seem to take delight in confronting uncomfortable cultural and social truths, all the while thumbing her nose at sexism and all the noise from scene trolls about the band “selling out”.

Beyond tracks like Special, Fantasy and even Suffer The Fool (How High Are You?), the super intense album closer Are We All Angels kicks ass. It is arguably one of the album’s most powerful tracks, which reflects upon the exploration of the duality between perceived virtue and human fallibility. In an interview with The Fader’s David Renshaw, when asked about the title track, Moss said: “I see it as a rhetorical statement. I was thinking about how, in the Bible, angels are soldiers that carry out acts of violence. Traditionally, they’re very powerful and also seen as free of sin. That duality is really fascinating when you unpack it and you compare it to us citizens going through personal griefs. Expanding that onto a bigger level, I started thinking about how we as individuals don’t really have power over our narrative. That’s true on a sociopolitical level but it also extends into our subculture and our personal relationships. Are We All Angels represents the idea that nobody is a perfect victim.”

In truth, there is plenty more I could unpack about my favourite album of 2025. For instance you could learn a lot about Scowl from the fact that when some thirteen minutes into their second album, the needle drops on Tonight (I’m Afraid), the poppiest pop punk song in their arsenal. Or underneath the brash surface of songs like B.A.B.E. (which stands for “burnt at both ends”), in which Moss screams about the rigours on and off the road, Scowl is pretty much letting us know they wouldn’t change a thing about band life. They are truly happy to suffer and bleed for their art. Why? Because the thrill of chasing their dream making music is what truly drives them. And you know what? Kudos to them.